Jukebox Wilson
The man known as "Jukebox" Wilson was a small-time criminal in Dick Tracy's city. He had wavy black hair and prominent lips. He typically wore a misshapen hat and a bow tie with musical notes on it. He habitually carried a portable radio in a pouch on his belt that was rigged to play automatically when the lid was opened. The Mystery Voice Jukebox Wilson apparently operated a legitimate business of renting jukeboxes to local establishments. He later expanded his business to include producing record albums and promoting live performances. Wilson's most successful endeavor consisted of producing records featuring "The Mystery Voice", a female singer whose identity was kept secret. These records used vocals that singer Loris Low had produced for another company and were reproduced without her permission. Loris Low complained to Dick Tracy about Wilson's activities and Tracy and Sam Catchem agreed to investigate. When Tracy and Sam visited Wilson at his office/recording studio, Wilson and his associate Bea Bee employed a ruse to convince the detectives that Bea was actually The Mystery Voice. The police officers left, but Sam remained unconvinced. The Situation Escalates Discovering that Loris Low had been the person that had informed the police, Jukebox Wilson planned to silence her. He contacted Loris and asked her to come to his office. When she arrived, he held her there at gunpoint. Sam Catchem (who happened to see Low entering the office) also arrived and was taken prisoner. Bea Bee and Busy Majeski (a musician that Wilson was working with) realized the severity of Wilson's actions and agreed to aid him in the interest of self-preservation. Wilson and Majeski transported Low and Catchem to Wilson's home in the country while Bea stayed in the city and impersonated Loris Low in an attempt to mis-lead Dick Tracy. Her deception was discovered and Tracy convinced her to take him to Wilson's hideout. At the same time, Busy Majeski realized that he was in over his head and he helped Loris Low to escape. Wilson deduced that the police would be closing in on him, and he decided to kill Sam Catchem and make his escape. He tied Catchem to stakes in the ground under a mechanical drilling truck that he had been using to dig a well. He planned to drill through Catchem's body but was interrupted by the arrival of Dick Tracy. Wilson attempted to escape, but the heavy drill truck was slow-moving and Tracy quickly closed in on him. Wilson left the truck parked on a narrow mountain road where Tracy's car struck it. Wilson was able to make his escape while Tracy recovered from the collision. The Concert Jukebox Wilson made his way back to the city and robbed a clothing store to get a different, less recognizable outfit. Loris Low managed to convince Tracy and Catchem that Busy Majeski had been an unwilling participant in Wilson's scheme, and Majeski was allowed to proceed with a concert that Wilson had arranged some time previously. Wilson saw an advertisement for the concert and became angry that his former associate was profiting off of Wilson's efforts. He determined to kill Majeski at the concert. Dick Tracy deduced that the fugitive Wilson may pose a threat to Majeski and arranged for a strong police presence at the concert. Despite this, Wilson was able to gain access to the theater, and he shot at Majeski. Tracy was able to push the musician out of the way, and Wilson fled into the theater's rafters. Tracy had the lights in the theater turned off, believing that this would make it difficult for Wilson to escape or fire again. As Wilson crawled along a catwalk above the stage, his portable radio caught on a support bar and started playing. The sound alerted Tracy to Wilson's location, and he ordered a powerful searchlight to be directed towards the music. The light blinded Wilson, who lost his balance and fell. Wilson landed on a high-voltage electrical transformer and was killed. Notes * Jukebox Wilson was the primary villain in Dell Comics' Dick Tracy Monthly #23 (cover date November, 1949). He had also appeared on the last page of Dick Tracy Monthly #22. The writers and artists of these issues were not credited. * The Jukebox Wilson story effectively reproduces the common elements of a Dick Tracy storyline from the newspaper strip, with converging plots, chases and escapes, death-traps, etc. Category:Villains Category:Deceased Category:Dell Comics Characters Category:Characters from Other Strips or Media